David Barbado

• PhD
• Professor (Assistant) at Miguel Hernández University of Elche

Bridges and bird-dog exercises are commonly used in general training, as well as in warm-up and cool-down routines for young athletes to boost performance and prevent injuries. They are frequently paired with limb and other trunk exercises, and performed without precise control over intensity, which hinders the understanding of their actual impact....

The Biering-Sorensen test (BST), the Side Bridge test (SBT) and the Ito test (IT) are three of the most used field-based tests to assess isometric trunk muscle endurance. The objectives were to analyze the relationship between the participants’ test performance and several anthropometry parameters, the data consistency and the sex effect on test sc...

Background and objectives: Although different variations of the Pallof press exercise are commonly performed in sports and fitness settings to increase core stability, the intensity/difficulty of these variations is unknown and therefore it is difficult to control the training load and establish exercise progressions. This study aimed to compare an...

Although different variations of the Pallof press exercise are commonly performed in sport and fitness settings to increase core stability, the intensity/difficulty of these variations is unknown and therefore it is difficult to control the training load and establish exercise progressions. This study aimed to compare and rank the postural control...

Ankle fractures can lead to issues such as limited dorsiflexion, strength deficits, swelling, stiffness, balance disorders, and functional limitations, which complicate daily activities. This study aimed to describe neuromuscular adaptations at 6 and 12 months post-surgery during static and dynamic balance tasks, specifically using the Y-Balance Te...

Miralles-Iborra, A, Del Coso, J, De Los Ríos-Calonge, J, Elvira, JLL, Barbado, D, Urban, T, and Moreno-Pérez, V. Deceleration capacity during directional change as a time-efficient (ecological) prescreening of hip adductor force status in amateur soccer players. J Strength Cond Res XX(X): 000-000, 2024-Reduced isometric adductor muscle strength has...

Background Variable practice is a broadly used tool to improve motor learning processes. However, controversial results can be found in literature about the success of this type of practice compared to constant practice. This study explored one potential reason for this controversy: the manipulation of variable practice load applied during practice...

Movement control can be an indicator of how challenging a task is for the athlete, and can provide useful information to improve training efficiency and prevent injuries. This study was carried out to determine whether inertial measurement units (IMU) can provide reliable information on motion variability during strength exercises, focusing on the...

Objectives Determine if (a) a better trunk stability and endurance are associated with an improved whole‐body dynamic balance, and if (b) the assessment tests can be interchanged within each capability. Methods Sixty‐three physically active young males performed three trunk stability (i.e., the lumbopelvic stability, the unstable sitting and the s...

Introduction Sitting on an unstable surface is a common paradigm to investigate trunk postural control among individuals with low back pain (LBP), by minimizing the influence lower extremities on balance control. Outcomes of many small studies are inconsistent (e.g., some find differences between groups while others do not), potentially due to conf...

Background: Body tilt changes could affect the intensity/difficulty of core stability exercises, but there is still a lack of knowledge about its impact. Objective: To analyse the trunk muscles activation during prone plank exercises at different body tilts. Methods: Twenty-four young adults who performed recreational gymnastic activities part...

Heredia-Elvar, JR, Juan-Recio, C, Prat-Luri, A, Barbado, D, Ríos-Calonge, Jdl, and Vera-Garcia, FJ. Exercise intensity progressions and criteria to prescribe core stability exercises in young physically active men: a smartphone accelerometer-based study. J Strength Cond Res XX(X): 000–000, 2023—The establishment of core stability (CS) exercise inte...

An accurate trunk muscle strength assessment seems very important to design and individualize training and rehabilitation programs in clinical and sport settings. Hand-held dynamometers (HHDs) are interesting alternatives to isokinetic dynamometers for assessing trunk isometric muscle strength because they are inexpensive instruments and easy to us...

Objectives: The purpose of this study was 1) to determine and compare kinetic parameters during the realization of a countermovement jump (CMJ) between footballers with cerebral palsy (CP) and non-impaired footballers, and 2) to analyze the differences in this action between different players’ impairment profiles and a group of non-impaired footbal...

Background: Core stability exercise programs have become popular in recent years for preserving balance and functional independence in people with multiple sclerosis (PwMS); however, their real impact is not well-known as the main intervention target (i.e., core stability) theoretically responsible for balance or functional improvements is not mea...

Background and purpose: Optimal reporting is a critical element of scholarly communications. Several initiatives, such as the EQUATOR checklists, have raised authors' awareness about the importance of adequate research reports. On these premises, we aimed at appraising the reporting quality of published randomized controlled trials (RCTs) dealing...

Motor variability is a prominent feature of the human movement that, nowadays, can be easily measured through different sensors and analyzed using different types of variables, and it seems to be related to functional and adaptative motor behavior. It has been stated that motor variability is related to the system’s flexibility needed to choose the...

OBJECTIVE: To analyze the effect of trunkfocused exercise programs (TEPs) and moderator factors on chronic nonspecific low back pain (LBP). DESIGN: Systematic review with meta-analyses. LITERATURE SEARCH: We searched the PubMed, Scopus, Embase, SPORTDiscus, and CENTRAL databases from their inception to June 2022. STUDY SELECTION CRITERIA: We includ...

Induced variability by the use of unstable surfaces has been proposed to enhance proprioceptive control to deal with perturbations in the support base better. However, there is a lack of evidence about its benefits facilitating motor adaptions in upper body skills. In this experiment, practice on an unstable surface was applied to analyze the adapt...

Background: The Gait&Balance (G&B) App has produced valid and reliable measures of gait and balance in young healthy adults but has not been tested in older adults. Research question: In healthy middle-to-older aged adults, are G&B App measurements sensitive to age, valid against clinical and kinematic measures, and reliable? Method: Healthy par...

Background The aim of this study was to analyze the shoulder functional profile (rotation range of motion [ROM] and strength), upper and lower body performance, and throwing speed of U13 versus U15 male handball players, and to establish the relationship between these measures of physical fitness and throwing speed. Methods One-hundred and nineteen...

Simple Summary Although the side bridge test has been widely used for assessing trunk lateral flexor endurance in sport, clinical, and scientific settings, to the best of the authors’ knowledge, no study has analyzed its validity and reliability in an only female population. The surface electromyography of eight abdominal, back, shoulder and hip mu...

Background The aim of this study was to analyze the shoulder functional profile (rotation range of motion [ROM] and strength), upper and lower body performance, and throwing speed of U13 versus U15 male handball players, and to establish the relationship between these measures of physical fitness and throwing speed. Methods One-hundred and ninetee...

To analyze how balance and other physical capacities evolved after surgery in patients with a bimalleolar fracture and how these capacities and clinical variables (immobilization or unloading time) contribute to restoring patients’ functionality, 22 patients and 10 healthy people (HC) were assessed for static and dynamic balance (Y-Balance test, YB...

Ankle fractures can cause significant functional impairment in the short and long term. In recent years, gait analysis using inertial sensors has gained special relevance as a reliable measurement system. This study aimed to evaluate the differences in spatiotemporal gait parameters and clinical–functional measurements in patients with bimalleolar...

The complexity of the center of pressure (COP) provides important information regarding the underlying mechanisms of postural control. The relationships between COP complexity and balance performance are not fully established and might depend on the task constraints and the filtering decomposition of the COP signal. This study assessed COP complexi...

Background: Tennis is one of the most popular sports among youth. At elite levels, a notable increase in injury incidence and a temporary decline in performance may occur when children progress through puberty. However, limited research has explored maturity-associated variations in clinical measurements suggested as predictors of injury and tennis...

The Gait&Balance App aims to be a readily available and cost-effective tool for accurate as well as sensitive gait and balance assessment. The app evaluates gait and balance in 6 tests which are adapted from standardized clinical toolkits (CTSIB, BBS, DGI and FGA). During the 6 tests, the app records data from built-in motion sensors that are embed...

Background Visually induced dizziness can develop as a sequala of a vestibular disorder and is characterized by symptoms of nausea, dizziness, and imbalance in rich visual environments such as supermarkets and shopping malls. To date the mechanisms underlying visually induced dizziness are poorly understood. Research Question What are the characte...

Background: Ankle fractures can cause significant functional impairment in the short and long term. In recent years, gait analysis using inertial sensors has gained special relevance as a reliable measurement system. Objectives: In patients with bimalleolar ankle fracture, to identify the differences between the operated and healthy ankle in the sp...

Advances in technology provide an opportunity to enhance the accuracy of gait and balance assessment, improving the diagnosis and rehabilitation processes for people with acute or chronic health conditions. This study investigated the validity and reliability of a smartphone-based application to measure postural stability and spatiotemporal aspects...

The lack of training load control, mainly exercise intensity, is one of the main limitations of core stability (CS) programs, which makes the training individualization and the analysis of the dose-response relationship difficult. The objectives of this study were to assess the inter-and intra-rater agreement when using new observational screening...

Currently, it is not fully understood how motor variability is regulated to ease of motor learning processes during reward-based tasks. This study aimed to assess the potential relationship between different dimensions of motor variability (i.e., the motor variability structure and the motor synergies variability) and the learning rate in a reward-...

Abstract: Core stability (CS) deficits can have a significant impact on lower limb function. The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between two dynamic core exercise assessments and dynamic knee valgus during single-leg squats. In total, 20 physically active female students participated in this study. The OCTOcore smartphone appl...

In tennis, coaches consider balance fundamental for the acquisition of skilled motor performance. However, the potential relationship between balance and tennis expertise and performance has not been explored yet. Therefore, this study assessed the relationship between balance and tennis performance using linear and non-linear parameters through 1)...

Objective: Research on muscle performance testing reliability in people with multiple sclerosis (PwMS) has focused on limb performance while less is known about trunk strength and endurance. The objective is to 1) establish test-retest reliability of Trunk Flexion, Lateral Flexion and Extension strength tests, and Plank, Side-Bridge and Biering-So...

Background Balance impairment is a common feature in people with cerebral palsy (CP), impacting the performance of daily‐life and physical activities. Objectives This study aimed to (a) explore the absolute and relative intra‐session reliability of two balance tests to assess dynamic and static balance in ambulant para‐athletes with CP; (b) explor...

Background and objectives: Fatigue is one of the most disabling symptoms that limit daily life activities in persons with multiple sclerosis (pwMS). This study aimed to evaluate the effects of maximal strength training (MST) on perceived-fatigue and functional mobility in pwMS. Materials and Methods: 26 participants with MS were balanced according...

The aim of this systematic review is to analyze how, after additional trunk-focused training programs (ATEP), motor recovery after a stroke is modulated by potential effect modifiers. Twenty randomized controlled studies that carried out ATEP were included. Results showed moderate-to-high effects in favor of ATEP for trunk function, balance ability...

Background Ankle fractures are among the most common traumatic fractures and have a great socio-economic impact. Consequences of an ankle fracture requiring surgical treatment (e.g. pain, reduced ankle range of motion (ROM), muscle weakness, etc.) lead to balance deterioration, which has a profound impact on activities of daily living. However, to...

Postural control is considered a key variable in team sports, such as handball, which require abilities strongly related to balance. However, postural control and its relationship to the performance of handball skills according to the players’ skill level and age has not been evaluated to date. This study analyzes the relationship between balance a...

Disability progression is a prominent feature of multiple sclerosis (MS). However, little is known about the extent to which physical condition parameters and perceived fatigue evolve during the disease. We analyzed how strength, balance, core stability and perceived fatigue differ among different cohorts of people with MS (PwMS) with different dis...

To investigate the effects of a badminton competition with 2 matches in a day on hip strength and range of motion (ROM) and exercise-induced muscle damage in elite junior badminton players. Twenty players (age: 17±0.8 years; body mass: 62.9±6.5 kg, height: 173.8±8.9 cm) participated in this study. Passive hip internal (IR) and external rotation (ER...

Purpose: The intensity progression of core stabilization exercises (CSEs) is usually based on personal criteria rather than on objective parameters. To develop exercise progressions for four of the most common CSEs based on the postural control challenge imposed on the participants, and to analyze the effect of participants’ sex and postural contro...

Trunk function is a core factor to allocate Boccia players with cerebral palsy in BC1 and BC2 sport classes, according to the Boccia International Sports Federation (BISFed). However, the appropriateness of the current test to assess trunk function has never been studied to determine its reliability, validity and sensitivity to discriminate between...

Objectives: Spastic hemiplegia is one of the most common forms of cerebral palsy, in which one side of the body is affected to a greater extent than the other one. Hemiplegia severity (i.e. moderate vs mild forms) is currently used in some Para sports for classification purposes. This study evaluates the sensitivity of several tests of stability (...

From the theoretical framework offered by the self-determination theory, the objective of the study was to test a predictor model of bullying behaviors based on the physical education teacher’s supportive style, the students’ satisfaction of basic psychological needs, and self-determined motivation. A total of 608 students of both sexes, between 11...

Research regarding the relationship between core muscle endurance and performance is limited. The purpose of this study was to analyze the association between core/trunk endurance and athletic performance. Seventy-four healthy participants between 18 and 45 years old participated in this study (Age: 26.0 ± 6.5 years; Mass: 74.6 ± 12.8 kg; Height: 1...

Objective The aims of this study were to analyze the shoulder functional profile of young male and female tennis players and to establish the relationship among physical variables and serve speed. Methods A total of 128 Spanish tennis players (Under-13 (n = 32/32 males/females) and Under-15 (n = 36/28 males/females), were tested during National tr...

The aim of this experiment was to assess if the previously supported relationship between the structure of motor variability and performance changes when the task or organismic constraints encourage individuals to adjust their movement to achieve a goal. Forty-two healthy volunteers (aged 26.05 ± 5.02 years) performed three sets of cyclic pointing...

Although core stability (CS) has been assessed through many different tests, the relationships among them are currently unknown. The main objective was to analyse the relationship between five representative tests used to assess CS in: i) laboratory settings: Sudden Loading Test (SLT) and Stable and Unstable Sitting Test (SUST); ii) field settings:...

Although core stability (CS) training is largely used to enhance motor performance and prevent musculoskeletal injuries, the lack of methods to quantify CS training intensity hinders the design of CS programs and the comparison and generalization of their effects. The aim of this study was to analyze the reliability of accelerometers integrated int...

The same core stability isometric exercise elicits different pelvis acceleration in two individuals. The individuals in this manuscript have given written informed consent (as outlined in PLOS consent form) to publish these case details. (MP4)

Different core stability isometric exercises elicit similar pelvis acceleration in two individuals. The individuals in this manuscript have given written informed consent (as outlined in PLOS consent form) to publish these case details. (MP4)

Alterations in the shoulder range of motion (ROM) and strength levels affect performance in racket sports. However, the changes in these variables have not been measured during a badminton competition. The aim of the present study was to analyse the effects of playing two badminton matches on the same day on the shoulder profile (i.e., ROM and stre...

Trunk control (TC) impairment is a typical feature in individuals with cerebral palsy (CP), but there are lack of methods that allow to quantify the extent to which static and dynamic TC is impaired in adults with moderate-to-severe CP. Thus, the aims of this study were to analyze the reliability of a posturography protocol to assess TC in adults w...

Background: Postural control has been associated with the functional impairment in persons with multiple sclerosis (pwMS). However, there is a need for reliable methods to assess postural control in early stages of the disease, when subtle changes can be difficult to detect. The aims of this study were to assess the absolute and relative reliabili...

Purpose: To analyse the relationship between several parameters of neuromuscular performance with unilateral dynamic balance measured through the Y-Balance test, as well as to determine the possible sex-related differences. Methods: The Y-Balance test, isokinetic (concentric and eccentric) knee flexion and extension strength, isometric hip abduc...

Background: Although the Star Excursion Balance test (SEBT) has shown a good intra-session reliability the inter-session reliability of this test has not been deeply studied. Furthermore, there is an evident high influence of the lower-limbs in the performance of the SEBT so even if it has been used to measure core stability it is possibly not the...

Although the advance in disease-modifying drugs has helped to stabilize the multiple sclerosis (MS) course increasing life-expectancy, physical deterioration still supervenes over time in most MS patients. In this context, physical exercise programs are considered a safe and well-tolerated tool to preserve functional independence in this population...

Background Boccia is a paralympic sport played by athletes with severe neurological impairments affecting all four limbs. Impaired manual dexterity (MD) and intralimb coordination (ILC) may limit individuals’ ability to perform certain activities such as grasping, releasing, or manipulating objects, which are essential tasks for daily life or to pa...

While most trunk endurance field protocols are performed in the sagittal or frontal planes, the flexion-rotation trunk (FRT) test combines trunk flexion with rotation, which may be relevant to rotation-related sports. The aim of this study was to describe the trunk and hip muscle activation and fatigue and the range of hip flexion of this test. Twe...

Recent studies have found that motor variability is actively regulated as an exploration tool to promote learning in reward and error-based tasks. Based on this functional role of variability, several researches have manipulated motor variability by practicing in order to maximize learning processes. However, the effectiveness of such variable prac...

Background: Despite the high groin-injury (GI) prevalence in tennis, no studies have assessed the extent to which intrinsic groin injury risk factors, such as hip muscle strength, have recovered in elite tennis players with a history of previous GI. Objective: To investigate whether elite tennis players with a history of GI show differences in h...

This study tested whether a compensatory hypothesis exists on postural control during standing unstable balance tasks comparing blind soccer players (n = 7) to sighted soccer players (n = 15) and sighted sedentary individuals (n = 6). All subjects performed a pre-test, a training of ten practice trials on a single day, and a post-test balance test....

Different methods have been developed to quantify trunk muscle strength and endurance. However, some important protocol characteristics are still unclear, hindering the selection of the most suitable tests in each specific situation. The aim of this study was to examine the reliability and the relationship between 3 representative tests of the most...

The purpose of this study was to analyze the effects of playing 2 tennis matches on the same day on physical performance in young tennis players. Twelve well-trained young tennis players took part in a simulated tennis competition consisting of 2 tennis matches on the same day (morning and afternoon sessions). Before and the day after the competiti...

Recent studies show that motor variability is actively regulated as an exploration tool to promote learning in reward-based tasks. However, its role in learning processes during error-based tasks, when a reduction of the motor variability is required to achieve good performance, is still unclear. In this study, we hypothesized that error-based lear...

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to examine the reliability and the learning effect of an isokinetic trunk flexion-extension protocol designed to simultaneously assess trunk muscle strength and endurance. In addition, the effect of the participants' sex on the reliability data was examined. Methods: Fifty-seven healthy and physically activ...

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Background: Although unstable seat methodology has been used to assess trunk postural control, the reliability of the variables that characterize it remains unclear. Objective: To analyze reliability and learning effect of center of pressure (COP) and kinematic parameters that characterize trunk postural control performance in unstable seating....

ABSTRACT Introduction: Ankle sprains are injuries that commonly occur during physical activity. They constitute between 15-75% of all sport injuries, and they can develop into chronic ankle instability (CAI) and functional disability. Subjects with CAI have exhibited diminished dynamic balance and weakness in the hip abductor muscles. Therefore, th...

This study investigated the extent to which specific interacting constraints of performance might increase or decrease the emergent complexity in a movement system, and whether this could affect the relationship between observed movement variability and the central nervous system’s capacity to adapt to perturbations during balancing. Fifty-two heal...

Trunk/core stability is considered a key component of training programs, because it could contribute to prevention of low-back and lower-limb injuries and to sports performance. Based on the specificity principle, sports-related trunk stability tests would be required in elite sports performance. However, there may be some generic qualities underly...

Although trunk muscle function has been suggested to be a determinant of judo performance, its contribution to high-level performance in this sport has been poorly studied. Therefore, several tests were used to assess the differences in trunk muscle function between 11 international and 14 national level judo practitioners (judokas). Trunk strength...

Raw data of all variables analysed in this study. (XLSX)

Introduction: In Paralympic Sports is crucial to use tools to discriminate between sport classes. In our study it has been used the electromechanical delay (EMD) of finger extensors during ball realizing in two different situations: with/without command constrains to discriminate between BC1 and BC2 Boccia classes. Material and Methods: Twenty-eigh...

El objetivo de este trabajo fue revisar las características de los métodos utilizados para valorar la estabilidad de la zona central del cuerpo (core stability), así como las características más importantes de los programas de ejercicios de estabilización del tronco. Los resultados de la revisión indican que métodos biomecánicos, como la aplicación...

The aim of this study was to review both the characteristics of the tests used to assess core stability and the most important features of trunk stabilization exercise programs. The results of this review suggest that biomechanical methods such as sudden and controlled trunk loading and unloading, unstable sitting paradigm and mathematical modeling...